Seals and method of attaching them to tying elements



Nov. 21, 1961 w. STELZER 3,009,276

SEALS AND, METHOD OF ATTACHING THEM TO 'rymc ELEMENTS Filed March 31,1959 ATTORNEY atent flfice 3,fl9,276 Patented Nov. 21, 1961 SEALS ANDMETHOD OF ATTACHING THEM TO TYlNG ELEMENTS William Stelzer, BloomfieldHills, Mich, assignor to Stolfel Seals Corporation, Tuckahoe, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed Mar. 31, 1959, Ser. No. 803,259 8 Claims.(Cl. 40-316) The invention relates to seals and the method of attachingthem to elongated members such as tying elements, and more particularlyto interconnected seals made in strip form, and the method of separatingsingle seals from a strip and attaching them to tying elements.

An object of the invention is to produce an inexpensive and tamperproofseal that lends itself for use with a manually or power operated devicefor rapid attachment to the strands of a tying element used in sealingarticles or for securing price tags.

Another object is to produce novel seals in strip form that are securelyheld together and yet can be severed with a minimum effort by using anovel method.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing description considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the seal strip;

FIG. 2, a front elevation thereof;

FIG. 3, a cross-section through the seal at the end of the strip shownpartly closed by a curling die and punch;

FIG. 4, a cross-section through the seal adjacent the first seal held ina fixed guide element; and

FIG. 5, a perspective view of a seal separated from the strip andsecured to the strands of a tying element.

Briefly stated, the present invention contemplates seals having tag andchannel portions and connected side-byside at the channel portions alonglines weakened in such manner as to facilitate or produce separation ofan end seal as its channel portion is bent to apply the same aroundtying elements.

The seals are manufactured in gang strip form as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,the seal strip 1 being formed from a single piece of sheet metal andcomprising a channel section having a Web 2, an outer flange 3, and aninner flange 4 connected to a tag section 5. The tag section is acontinuation of flange 4 and is bent away from the plane of flange 4,preferably to be more or less parallel with web 2, as shown. The tagsection 5, which may receive identifying indicia or other marking, has aplurality of transverse equally spaced slots 6 extending through innerflange 4 partly into web 2 of the channel section. The outer flange 3has notches 7 in alignment with slots 6 and extending through outerflange 3 a short distance into web 2. Web 2 is scored transversely, sothat there is a weakening line 8 extending from each slot 6 to thecorresponding notch 7. Thus the strip 1 is divided by the slots andnotches into a plurality of interconnected seals a, 5b, 5c, etc.

In order to facilitate the separation of the seals as a result of orimmediately following the application of each, the web is preferablyweakened to the greatest extent adjacent to the slot 6, the degree ofweakening becoming less adjacent to the notch 7. One method ofaccomplishing this is to progressively more deeply indent a score line 8into the web as the line progresses from the notch 7 to the slot 6. Itis also contemplated that the scoring may be done on both sides of theweb. However, in a strip of seals, it may be desirable to preventseparation of the last end seal from the adjoining seal until such endseal has been moved into position for closing, in order to facilitatefeeding of the end seal. For such purpose the scoring between such twoseals may be less pronounced and of uniform depth on one side only.

In order to impart a certain rigidity and strength to the seal strip toprevent breakage from handling without sacrificing the ease of severinga seal from the strip for attachment to a tying member, the web 2 ispreferably slightly curved, which is particularly beneficial when a verythin sheet material is used to form the strip. The rigidity of the sealstrip can be further improved by alternately continuing the weakeningline 8 on opposite sides of web 2, for example, by having a score markon the outside of web 2 starting at slot 6 to extend a short distancealong line 8, continuing on the inside through the central portion ofweb 2 (to which the line of numeral 2 points) and terminating on theoutside again into notch *7.

The construction of the seal strip is contemplated to make possible anovel method of severance of the first end seal from the strip andattachment to the strands of a tying element. This method is illustratedin principle in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Referring to FIG. 3, the seal 5a is placed between a curling die 10 anda punch 11, and the strands 12 of a tying element are placed into thechannel section, as shown. The illustration shows the die partly closed,the curling action being incomplete. The second seal 5b is held by guidemembers 14 and 15 as shown in FIG. 4 to maintain the original form.These guide members are fixed in relation to punch 11. Thus when thechannel section of the first seal is being curled, it is graduallyshear-torn from the strip, requiring a minimum amount of effort.

Because of the presence of the scoring adjacent to the portion of theseal being curled, the separation of such portion from the strip duringsuch curling is facilitated. Furthermore, due to the progressiveweakening of the connection in the direction of progression of the curl,as previously described, the curling operation in itself may producecomplete separation of the seal, or so nearly complete that the movementrequired to separate is negligible. However, between the last pair ofseals the connection is preferably of greater strength as previouslydescribed, in order to promote feeding of the last end seal intoposition prior to the breaking off of its adjoining seal.

In order to improve the tamperproofness of the seal, the curled portionof the latter may be curved and the central portion crimped as shown inFIG. 5 where numeral 18 indicates the crimped central portion of thecurved curled channel section, making opening without breakage morediificult. For this purpose punch 11 is recessed at 16, and surface 17of die 10 is curved longitudinally to cooperate with recess 16 toproduce the curled crimped configuration.

Accordingly, it will be understood that the present invention includesseal members connected in a manner to form a strip from which individualseals are substantially or completely separated by the closing orapplication of the same, the seals being so interconnected that a stripof substantial rigidity and strength is formed but in such manner thatseparation is easily accomplished.

It will be obviousto those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A seal strip made of a single piece of sheet metal formed to have achannel section and an adjacent tag section, said channel sectionconsisting of a web, an outer flange, and an inner flange joining saidtag section, said seal strip having a plurality of transverse spacedslots extending across said tag section and dividing said section into aplurality of tags, said slots extending across said inner flange to saidweb, said outer flange having a notch in alignment with each of saidslots and extending from the outer edge to said web, said web beingweakened along transverse lines extending from said notches to saidopposite slots, whereby said strip is divided into a plurality of sealsconnected along a weakened line extending transversely of said channelsection.

2. A seal strip as defined in claim 1 in which the web is slightlycurved in cross-section, providing increased concavity in associationwith the flanges.

3. A seal strip as defined in claim 1 in which the weakening of the webalong said transverse lines between at least certain of said seals isgreatest adjacent to said slots and is progressively less progressingtoward said notches.

4. A seal strip as defined in claim 1 in which the web along saidtransverse lines between at least certain of said seals is weakened bydiscontinuous scoring occurring alternately on opposite sides of saidweb.

5. A seal for permanent attachment to one or more elongated memberscomprising a tag portion adapted to receive printed information thereon,a first flange connected to one end of said tag portion and projectingsubstantially at right angles thereto, a web extending from the flangein a direction opposite to and generally parallel with said tag, anouter flange projecting from said web in generally parallel relation tosaid first flange, the spacing between said flanges being greater thannecessary to receive the members therebetween.

6. The method of attaching an end seal of a series to elongated memberscomprising providing a series of seals having channel-shaped portionsconnected together by a continuous web portion integral with the sealsand having weakening lines thereacross and intermediate the seals forfacilitating separation of the seals from each other, said seals eachhaving an inner and outer flange on each edge of said web, an integraltag extending from the inner flange and away from said outer flange, thetags and flanges of each seal being completely separated from theadjacent seal, the method comprising placing the elongated members inthe channel formed between the flanges of an end seal and curling theouter flange of said seal around said members and against said web andsaid inner flange in contacting relation to secure said members againstmovement, the curling of said web severing the said one seal from thestrip of seals along its adjacent weakened line.

7. In the attachment of seals of a seal strip made of a single piece ofsheet metal formed to have a channel section and an adjacent tagsection, said channel section consisting of a web, an outer flange, andan inner flange joining said tag section, said seal strip having aplurality of transverse spaced slots in said tag section, notches insaid outer flange in alignment with said slots, said web being weakenedalong transverse lines extending from said notches to said oppositeslots, whereby said strip is divided into a plurality of interconnectedseals which may he severed along said transverse lines and secured tostrands of a tying element, the method comprising the steps ofpositioning said strands in said channel section of one seal at the endof said strip, curling said channel section of said one seal around saidstrands by starting the curl at the notched end of said seal andsecurely holding the adjacent seal, whereby said one seal is graduallyshear-torn from said strip and said strands become securely embedded insaid curled channel section, said step of curling said channel sectionbeing performed in a manner to cause a curvature in the axis of thecurled section.

8. In the attachment of seals of a seal strip made of a single piece ofsheet metal formed to have a channel section and an adjacent tagsection, said channel section consisting of a web, an outer flange, andan inner flange joining said tag section, said seal strip having aplurality of transverse spaced slots in said tag section, notches insaid outer flange in alignment with said slots, said web being weakenedalong transverse lines extending from said notches to said oppositeslots, whereby said strip is divided into a plurality of interconnectedseals which may be severed along said transverse lines and secured tostrands of a tying element, the method comprising the steps of firstpositioning said strands in said channel section of one seal at the endof said strip, curling said channel section of said one seal around saidstrands by starting the curl at the notched end of said seal andsecurely holding the adjacent seal, whereby said one seal is graduallyshear-torn from said strip and said strands become securely embedded insaid curled channel section, and crimping said curled channel section tomore firmly hold said strands.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,298,981 Loughridge Apr. 1, 1919 1,779,241 Kohnle Oct. 31, 19302,043,919 Bengtson June 9, 1936 2,514,437 Bailhe July 11, 1950 l l l l

